Game system including multiple decks of thematic playing cards

ABSTRACT

A system of educational games with a common educational theme of parliamentary, political, civic, geographical, and historical elements for delivering relevant, current information regarding elected or appointed officials, government, parliamentary procedures, constitutional law and/or regulatory affairs, along with historical facts. In one embodiment, a game includes thematic playing cards, a playing mat, chips, dice, one or more score pads and a set of official rules. Each thematic deck is also a traditional playing deck including the commonly known suits and ranks allowing for traditional card games to be played with these cards.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional applicationSer. No. 61/559,443, filed Nov. 14, 2011, entitled “Game SystemIncluding Multiple Decks Of Thematic Playing Cards.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various educational games are known in the art. Generally, these gamesallow players to compete against one another while learning variousconcepts including, for example, how the government works, history,geography, and English language, industry specific acronyms. Many ofthese games, by design, are directed to specific age ranges of playersand, therefore, a game designed for young children is not challengingfor older children or adults and one directed to older players is toohard for younger players.

A game that is both educational, across a number of different topics,and interesting to a broad range of players is needed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system of educational games with a common educational theme ofparliamentary, political, civic, geographical, and historical elements.The system of games delivers relevant, current information regardingelected or appointed officials, government, parliamentary procedures,constitutional law and/or regulatory affairs, along with historicalfacts. In one embodiment a game may include thematic playing cards, aplaying mat, chips, dice, one or more score pads and a set of officialrules. Each thematic deck is also a traditional playing deck includingthe commonly known suits (clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds) and rank(Ace, 2-10, Jack, Queen, King and Jokers). As a result, known“traditional” card games can also be played with these cards. Several ofthe games can be played by individuals or in teams to promote familyplay and interaction. Advantageously, these games, by design, aredirected to engage, entertain and inform a wide range of players and,therefore, such games have variations and components to provide foraudiences both young and old, novices and experts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description of embodiments thereof and from the claims,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a representation of a first type of playing card in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a representation of a second type of playing card inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a representation of a third type of playing card in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a representation of a fourth type of playing card inaccordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a representation of a fifth type of playing card in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are representations of the two sides of a sixth type ofplaying card in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a representation of a playing board in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A-8D are representations of a set of dice in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a representation of a board game in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional applicationSer. No. 61/559,443, filed Nov. 14, 2011, entitled “Game SystemIncluding Multiple Decks Of Thematic Playing Cards,” the entire contentsof which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

Generally, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a systemof educational games with a common educational theme of parliamentary,political, civic, geographical, and historical elements. In oneembodiment a game may include thematic playing cards, a playing mat,chips, dice, one or more score pads and a set of official rules. Eachthematic deck is also a traditional playing deck including the commonlyknown suits (clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds) and rank (Ace, 2-10,Jack, Queen, King and Jokers). As a result, known “traditional” cardgames can also be played with these cards. Several of the games can beplayed by individuals or in teams to promote family play andinteraction.

Further, a game system is described that is both educational andhumorous while providing definitions and pronunciations for acronymsreadily used to refer to many government agencies, departments,programs, committees, commissions, Acts, and other aspects of U.S. andForeign Governments.

Each deck of playing cards includes 54 playing cards made up of the 52“valued” cards and the two Joker cards. Each deck has a different themethat is incorporated into a corresponding game that can be played usingthe cards and the theme represented thereon.

Advantageously, embodiments of the present invention incorporateinformation and elements of parliamentary procedures such as theElectoral College, elections, legislative processes and real political,historical, elected officials and figures, into a game system includinga game board and components of games which, in some cases utilizeelements of traditional playing cards.

Two or more decks of question cards corresponding to each deck of themedcards are also provided. Each of the question cards includes a questionrelating to a theme of the cards in the corresponding themed deck. Onedeck of question cards includes questions that are, generally,relatively more difficult than the questions on the other deck ofquestion cards. As a result, player differentiation may be available inthat, for example, younger players would use the “easier” question deckand older players may use the “harder” question deck. Advantageously,therefore, players of different levels may play together without onebeing at a disadvantage (or advantage).

As the present game system is meant to provide an educational and funexperience, the themed cards may be directed to, for example, and notintended to be limiting: United States Presidents and Founding Fathers;U.S. Senators (Past and/or Present); and U.S. Governors (Past and/orPresent). This list is not intended to be exhaustive and the choice ofsubject matter is not limited to the United States and could be anycountry's historical and/or government structure.

Presidents & Founding Fathers Embodiment

In one embodiment, a traditional playing deck of cards includes 44, asof the filing date, U.S. Presidents and eight Founding Fathers, plus twooriginal and proprietary Jokers, to make a 54 card playing deck in astandard size. As above, traditional games can be played with this deckof cards. In one non-limiting example, The Founding Fathers chosen maybe: James Wilson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Gouverneur Morris,John Witherspoon, George Mason, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Inthis example, the eight Founding Fathers, who were not presidents, wereselected by surveying past or current professors of political sciencefrom leading US Universities.

In one embodiment, referring now to FIG. 1, each Founding Father card100, including those who were also Presidents, are specially markedwithin each deck. In one non-limiting example, each Founding Father card100 bears the symbol equivalent to “fortissimo,” in music—ff, or twolowercase f letters 104. Presidents who were also Founding Fathers aremarked with the equivalent of a fortissimo sign within a star 108. Thesedesignations appear on a card below the number and suit of theindividual card.

Each President or Founding Father card features a photograph or drawingof the individual 112, their name 114, their party affiliation 115, andthe years 116 they took and left office, along with the consecutivenumber 120 of their presidency, within the succession of leaders. Eachdeck also includes two Jokers which are proprietary in design. All ofthe cards also show traditional playing card rank and suit 124.

Two decks (beginner and advanced), of “Q” or Question Cards 200,accompany each deck of President and Founding Father playing cards, anexample of which is shown in FIG. 2. These question cards 200 containone or more questions 204 related to U.S. Presidents and FoundingFathers along with the corresponding answer or answers 208. Questioncards hold both the question and answer to a particular query.

United States Senators (Congressional Edition) Embodiment

In another embodiment of playing cards according to the presentinvention, two decks of traditionally-marked playing cards are provided.Each deck includes 50 of the 100 senators in past, current or futureCongresses, with the corresponding past, current or future Speaker ofthe House of Representatives and President of the Senate (theVice-President of the United States), to make up 52 cards in each deck.Thus, two senators from each of 25 states are in the first deck and twosenators from the other 25 states are in the second deck. The separationof the senators between two decks of cards in the deck set is an elementof game play for one or more of the games that can be played with theU.S. Senators game and card decks. Two original and proprietary “Jokers”are added to make each playing deck 54 in base size, and provide for theplaying of both a set of original and proprietary games with officialrules, as well as any traditional card game.

Each individual card 300, referring to FIG. 3, within the Senate deck,features a photograph or drawing 304 of the corresponding senator, theirfull name 308, their party affiliation 312, the year 316 they tookoffice and the year 320 the seat will next become open, the name oftheir state 324 and the two letter abbreviation 328 for their state. Thecards featuring the Speaker of the House of Representatives andPresident of the Senate will include similar information. Each cardshows either an exact or true to life representation of an electedofficial. Advantageously, a player can learn to recognize an electedofficial in an historical rather than political context, void ofcaricatures or otherwise politically charged biases. All of the cardsalso show traditional playing card rank and suit 332.

Two decks (beginner and advanced), of Senator Question Cards, accompanyeach set of two Senators decks. These cards 400, referring to FIG. 4,contain one or more questions 404 related to the legislative process andthe corresponding answers 408. Question cards hold both the question andanswer to a particular query.

U.S. Governors Embodiment

In another embodiment of playing cards according to the presentinvention, a traditionally-marked deck of playing cards includes 50cards corresponding to the 50 current or most recent Governors of the 50states of the United States. Two additional cards feature the U.S.President and Vice President to make a 52 card playing deck. Two Jokercards are provided to make each playing deck 54 in base size, andprovide for the playing of both a set of original and proprietary gameswith official rules, as well as any traditional card game.

Individual cards 500 within the U.S. Governors deck feature a photographor drawing 504 of the corresponding governor or the emblem or symbol forthe state governed by a particular governor, their party affiliation508, the year they took office 512 and the year 516 the office will nextbecome open, the full name of the Governor 520 and the name of the State524, and the two letter abbreviation 528 for their state. Each of thecards also show traditional playing card rank and suit 532.

Two decks (beginner and advanced), of Question Cards, accompany eachdeck of Governors playing cards. These cards contain questions relatedto the U.S. States, states' rights and U.S. constitutional law. Questioncards hold both the question and answer to a particular query. The U.S.Governors deck and Question Card decks may be provided separately or maybe combined together, as components to a Game Set, which also includes aplaying board and four sets of 50 plastic chips, in four differentcolors, custom dice, original game playing rules and instructions.Accessories for all games include a soft playing mat and a carryingcase. The carrying case includes a section designed to hold gamecollateral, for example, brochures or itineraries, for those touringeducational or historic sites related to the game set.

Government Agencies, English Language and Industry Specific AcronymsEmbodiment

A game system according to another embodiment of the present inventiondoes not require a traditional deck of playing cards. Rather, a set of75 bookmark-sized cards (approximately 1.5×6″) is provided. Each card600 features, on a first side 604 of the card, as presented in FIG. 6A,an acronym 608 for a government, or quasi-government agency, departmentor program within the U.S. Federal Government, or specific to aparticular industry. A phonetic pronunciation and spelling 612, with, ona second or “reverse” side 616, as shown in FIG. 6B, the proper fullspelling of the name 620 of the program, agency, or acronym. Of course,the size and number of the playing cards can vary.

In one non-limiting example, the deck of cards is divided into threesubsets of 25, in this case, representing “Tourist” (beginner),“Bureaucrat” (advanced), and “Show-off!” (expert), acronyms asquestions. One subset may be printed in red with a white background, thesecond subset may be printed in white with a red background, and thethird subset may be printed in white with a blue background. Of course,a different number of subsets may be chosen as well as any color schemethat will serve to distinguish one group from another. In oneembodiment, a font is chosen that is similar to the one used on eyecharts. On each card, below each acronym is a pronunciation guide, e.g.,DNDO (dee•en•dee•oh) or OSHA (oh•shah).

Playing Board and Mat

A playing board and/or mat 700, as shown in FIG. 7, of original designand made of, for example, vinyl, is included in one or more embodimentsof the game system in accordance with the present invention. The mat 700may include unique marks and information required to play some, but notnecessarily all, games in the present system. The mat may include apolitical/geographical map 704 of the United States, including theDistrict of Columbia. Each state may be marked with or without its name708, with a star 712, or other identifier, locating the respectivecapital with or without the city name, and the respective number ofElectoral Votes 716, in accordance with the Electoral College, assignedto each State. A playing mat 700 may also include a key or legend 720 tosome of the marks found on particular decks of Cards described above.

Custom Dice

A set of two dice 804, 808, as shown in FIGS. 8A-8D, is included witheach complete game set. The first die 804 is marked with a magentasymbol 812 on three sides and a green symbol 816 on the other threesides. The second die 808 is marked with, for example, the numbers 5,10, 15, 20, 25, and 30, one number on each side. During game play ofsome of the games described herein, a throw of both dice togetherindicates, from the first die 804, a level of question a player mustdraw, for example, beginner or advanced, and from the second die 808, anumber of points that will be awarded for correctly answering thatquestion.

Of course, it should be realized that the choice of colors and/or symbolon the first die, as well as point values indicated on the second die,as described herein, are chosen simply for explanatory purposes. Thechoices of color, symbol and values are not limited to those describedabove.

Games Potus

This game is based upon the 538 Electoral College points allocatedacross the 50 U.S. States, plus Washington, D.C. A minimum of 270Electoral Votes are needed to win the game, similar to the ElectoralCollege requirements to win the presidential election. The game may beplayed with any of the playing decks, and the corresponding Questioncard deck, described above and is played like Rummy. In accordance withthe present invention, points earned by a player are spent on, orconverted into, at that player's discretion, Electoral Votes, andplayers can only continue their turn after a Question card has beencorrectly answered. Cards are scored 5 points for numbers, 10 points fortens, and 15 points for Aces and face cards. Additionally, points forcorrectly answered questions are awarded as dictated by a roll of a setof dice where the class of question, e.g., beginner or advanced, is onthe faces of one die, three faces of each, and a number of points, e.g.,5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, are on the faces of the second die. Electoralvotes are purchased at 10 points each. After correctly answering aQuestion card and then during the course of that player's turn, a statecan be purchased with the adequate number of points required for theparticular state or Washington, D.C. A player may “win” a particularstate or Washington, D.C., only when a number of points equal to orgreater than that necessary to purchase a state's electoral votes areacquired. Points may be tallied on specially designed score sheetsincluded in each game, or otherwise recorded. A chip may be placed on astate or Washington, D.C. on the mat to indicate it has been won by aparticular player or team and that is player deducts from his bank ofoverall points, and may show the number on a POTUS (President of theUnited States) tally scoreboard or sheet.

Lobby

The object of this game is to be the first player to rid her hand of allcards and/or have the highest number of points, and thereby watch the“Bills” (anti-money or other pool of prize), pass to you. This game canbe played with any of the decks of cards described above, and thecorresponding question cards. It is played like “Rummy” except that aquestion card must be drawn by an opponent and answered correctly by theplayer before any card or series of cards can be pulled from the playdeck to advance. If the player answers a question correctly, that playercan both draw from the play deck or from the discarded cards andcontinue to draw from the question cards and continue play in the samemanner, until an incorrect answer is given. In this game, cards that areplaced in “books” count 5 points for numbers, 10 points for tens, and 15points for face cards, but also, 5 points are awarded for each beginnerquestion correctly answered, and 10 points are given for each advancedquestion answered. Players keep the cards from questions correctlyanswered in order to tally the score at the end of play. When the firstplayer has gone out of playing cards, should the player still holdingcards have a higher score, that player is then the winner and thesuccessful “Lobbyist.” Points are deducted from a player's score forcards still held after another player goes out.

Filibuster

Played like “War” with one or more of the decks of playing cardsdescribed above, except that, a Republican and a Democrat from anystate, presidency or governorship, also triggers a battle, as do cardsbearing the same mark which distinguish founding fathers or pastpresidents who were also founding fathers. Object: To gather and holdall of the cards, to win after a long and long-winded war!

Veto

A Presidential version of poker. The Most Recent President alone, takesany hand, two senators from the same state beat four of a kind, ahandful of Representatives, Governors or Presidents, all of the sameparty, is higher than a Royal Flush.

Quorum

Played like “memory” or “concentration” where all cards from theSenators deck described above are placed face down in any pattern. Eachplayer, upon their turn, turns one card over and then turns a secondcard over in an attempt to match two Senators from the same state tomake a “book” and take the state. If a match is made, that player goesagain, until they are unsuccessful at making a match. Of course, theother players are attempting to remember where an unmatched senator islocated in case the other one comes up during their respective turn atplay. Using the play mat or board, a chip is placed on each state takenby a player or team. The winner is the player or team with the greatestnumber of states once all cards are matched.

Speak DC:

Cards in the “acronym” deck are either organized according to degree ofdifficulty or shuffled to mix cards of varied difficulty, then pulled inconsecutive order. The individual pulling the first card faces theacronym side of the card to their opponent. The other player mustpronounce the acronym and then identify the government agency or programit represents. Points are tallied according to correct answers providedby each player, and scored according to the value of a particularcorrect answer: Red (Tourist)=5 Pts., White (Bureaucrat)=10 Pts., andBlue (Show-off!)=15 Pts. The player or team with the greatest number ofpoints after any agreed upon length of play, wins.

In a variation of any of the foregoing examples, cards bearing thecurrent President, Vice President, Speaker of the House or President ofthe Senate, holds special powers, as do “Jokers.” In the Presidents &Founding Fathers deck, cards representing Founding Fathers who were alsoPresident, hold special powers.

Funny Laws/Ridiculous Regulations Game

As is well known, either from the lore of urban myths, or from actualexperience, there are laws and regulations, at the local, state andfederal levels, that are so silly and/or obscure as to make one wonder“what were they thinking?,” e.g., by city ordinance, in New York City,it is illegal for a restaurant to call a sandwich a “corned beefsandwich” if it is made with white bread and mayonnaise. Some of theselaws and regulations are current while others have been is removed orare no longer enforced. These “funny” laws are at the center of a gamein accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

A board game combines movement of a game piece along a path on a board,based on a throw of the dice, with the drawing of cards that contain a“funny” law or regulation based on the spot on the path at which aplayer lands. Depending upon the card drawn, a player may have to, forexample, pay money, lose a turn, get money, move forward or movebackward.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a board 902 contains a plurality of trails 904with each trail having a starting point 906-n and a respective end point910-n. The trails 904 could be named as if each was a tour of the UnitedStates, for example, the Muir trail, Route 66, the Appalachian trail, orbear names of historical relevance such as that of, for example, earlyexplorers or pioneers, etc. Each player would have a game piece or“pawn” that could be in the shape of a, for example, horse, train, bus,car, motorcycle, bicycle, hiker, roller skates or something similar tosuggest mobility. The trails 904 could be superimposed on a map of theUnited States with, for example, famous icons, landmarks, terrain, etc.,also presented. Each trail 904 is marked in such a way, for example,color, size, shape, etc., to differentiate it from the other trails. Thetrails 904 intersect with one another at one or more locations. Eachtrail consists of sections or boxes or spots to count a number of steps,as will be described in more detail below.

In addition to the board 902, the game includes a set of regulations or“laws” cards. The cards are separated into different groups of laws andidentified by a respective color, for example, Green: EPA regulations,Blue: IRS regulations, Red: Federal Criminal Laws, Yellow: Local orState Crime Laws, Green: Traffic Laws, etc. There may be many colors andregulatory decks of violations or laws. Each card contains a funnyregulation or law according to the corresponding group and an actionthat a player must take.

Each player is given a same amount of play money and chooses a trail byplacing their pawn at the start of the trail. The goal of the game is tobe the first player to reach the other end of that trail. In play, theplayer rolls the dice and moves that number of spots along the trail.The player may land on a spot on the trail that is either a “rest” spotwhere the player takes no action; a “temp” job spot where the player maydraw a card from a “temp job” stack of cards and possibly earnadditional money; or a spot where the player is instructed to take acard from a specific group of silly laws cards and follow theinstructions. Of course, there may be other actions indicated on a spotsuch as, for example, losing a turn, paying a next player money, ispaying a fine, etc. Where the paths intersect, a player may change pathsand continue on but may or may not have to complete the original path onwhich she started.

In one embodiment, each spot represents a “day” and the winner is theplayer that reaches the end of the path in the fewest number of days. Inthe event of a tie, the player with the most money is the winner.

Particular versions of the game may be customized to use only a specificstate's laws or regulations or, perhaps, a specific city's, if there areenough of them. In the event of game customization, one of ordinaryskill in the art would understand that the names of the paths and theicons shown on the board, as well as the choice of pawns, would becustomized to coordinate with the particular area.

It is to be understood that the embodiments of the present inventiondescribed herein have been described using non-limiting detaileddescriptions of embodiments thereof that are provided by way of exampleand are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. It should beunderstood that features and/or steps described with respect to oneembodiment may be used with other embodiments, and that not allembodiments of the present application have all of the features and/orsteps shown in a particular figure or described with respect to one ofthe embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A game system comprising: a first deck of playingcards, wherein each card comprises a representation of a respectiveentity and a respective playing card value and wherein a plurality ofthe entities on the cards in the first deck have a first theme in commonwith one another; and a second deck of cards, wherein each card in thesecond deck comprises at least one question related to the first theme.2. The game system of claim 1, wherein: the second deck of cardscomprises first and second pluralities of cards having questions withfirst and second levels of difficulty, respectively, wherein the secondlevel of difficulty is relatively more difficult than the first level ofdifficulty.
 3. The game system of claim 1, wherein the entitiesrepresented in the first deck of playing cards are chosen from one ormore of: a group comprising presidents and former presidents of theUnited States; a group comprising vice-presidents and formervice-presidents of the United States; a group comprising governors andformer governors of the states in the United States; a group comprisingindividuals considered to be founding fathers of the United States; agroup comprising senators and former senators who served in the UnitedStates Senate; a group comprising the past or current Speaker of theHouse of Representatives of the United States; and a group comprisingthe past or current President of the U.S. Senate who also held or holdsthe office of Vice President of the United States.
 4. The game system ofclaim 3, wherein a playing card representing an entity that is in thefounding father group and in one or more of another group furthercomprises an indication thereof.
 5. The game system of claim 1, wherein:each entity represented on each playing card is an historical figure. 6.The game system of claim 1, wherein the playing card values comprisetraditional playing card values comprising a suit and a rank.
 7. Thegame system of claim 1, wherein no two playing cards in the first deckhave either a same entity represented thereon or a same playing cardvalue.
 8. A deck of playing cards, wherein each playing card comprises:an acronym and a corresponding phonetic pronunciation on a first side ofeach card; and on a second side of each card, a name of an entitycorresponding to the acronym on the first side of the same card.
 9. Thedeck of cards of claim 8, wherein the entity is chosen from the groupconsisting of: a government agency, a quasi-government agency, agovernment department, a government program or a specific industry suchas sports, medicine, law, acts of Congress, internet technology or theEnglish language.
 10. The deck of cards of claim 8, wherein the deckcomprises: a first plurality of cards; and a second plurality of cards,wherein the acronyms on the cards in the first plurality are in a firstcategory and the acronyms on the cards in the second plurality are in asecond category different from the first category.
 11. The deck of cardsof claim 10, wherein the first category acronyms are more difficult todiscern than the second category of acronyms.
 12. A game systemcomprising: a first deck of playing cards, wherein each card comprises arepresentation of a respective entity and a respective playing cardvalue and wherein a plurality of the entities on the cards in the firstdeck have a first theme in common with one another; a second deck ofcards, wherein each card in the second deck comprises at least onequestion related to the first theme; a playing board comprising aplurality of unique marks and information; and a pair of multi-sideddice, wherein a first die has a first plurality of sides with a samefirst marking and a second plurality of sides with a same second markingdifferent from the first marking and each side of the second die has adifferent value imprinted thereon.
 13. The game system of claim 12,wherein the unique marks and information on the playing board comprises:a map of the United States; an identifier marking a location of thecapital of each state; and a value representing the respective number ofElectoral Votes assigned to each State.
 14. The game system of claim 12,wherein: the first marking indicates that a player is to be asked aquestion of a first level of difficulty; and the second markingindicates that the player is to be asked a question of a second a levelof difficulty different from the first level of difficulty.
 15. The gamesystem of claim 12, wherein the unique marks and information on theplaying board comprises: a map of the United States; and a plurality oftrails, with each trail having a starting point and a respective endpoint, superimposed on the map of the United States, wherein each trailis identified with a name having historical relevance to the UnitedStates.
 16. The game system of claim 15, further comprising: a gamepiece in a shape that suggests mobility, wherein the game piece isconfigured for placement on one of the trails during game play.
 17. Thegame system of claim 16, wherein each trail further comprises: aplurality of marked sections to facilitate counting a number of moves ofa game piece during game play.
 18. The game system of claim 17, whereineach trail 904 is distinctly marked to differentiate it from any othertrail.
 19. The game system of claim 17, wherein at least two trailsintersect one another at one or more locations.